New alliance launched in response to crisis in children's health services

To realise the government’s ambition to raise the healthiest generation of children ever, restated in its 10 Year Health Plan for the NHS, we need sustained investment in the recruitment and development of specialist professionals, underpinned by a comprehensive child health workforce strategy.
The Child Health Workforce Alliance, which brings together 25 different organisations working on child health, will engage collaboratively with government to ensure babies, children, and young people remain a priority in the upcoming 10 Year Workforce Plan.

Lord Darzi rightly pointed out that the health and wellbeing of our children is in decline. Today the UK has some of the worst health outcomes for children in Europe, leaving the already underfunded and under-resourced child health workforce struggling to meet unprecedented levels of demand.
The development of a new NHS workforce plan is a crucial opportunity to help reverse this trend. This newly formed Alliance represents a united front of organisations who believe that every child deserves access to high-quality care, delivered by a well-supported and properly resourced workforce. Together we will campaign for a much needed cross-sector approach to workforce planning, which reflects the unique needs of children and the increased demand and complexity of child health.

School nurses, health visitors and those working in communities are critical to giving children and young people the best start in life. But as this report shows, sustained underfunding means there simply aren’t enough staff to meet demand. This has to change.
When children and young people are left without access to care, it not only causes harm but also stores up more problems for the future. Investment in children and young people’s nursing roles is money well spent, helping to prevent illness, support healthier choices and deliver crucial interventions at the right time. To do this, ministers must reverse the decline in health visitors and school nurses which have collapsed by a third since 2009.
The upcoming workforce plan must set out how it intends to rebuild these vital nursing roles, with government providing the necessary funding to make it a reality. The vision to move from illness to prevention and from hospital to community will only succeed if children and young people get the care they deserve.

The number of children with speech, language and communication needs has rocketed by 64% in England since 2016, but the children’s speech and language therapy workforce has not kept pace. As a result, we see many children facing long waits to access support, which risks significant negative impacts on their wellbeing, education, and future life chances. If the government is serious about a shift towards prevention, increasing school readiness, and breaking down the barriers to opportunity, then we need to see a clear focus on the child health workforce in the Ten-Year Workforce Plan. As a member of the Child Health Workforce Alliance, we look forward to working constructively with Government departments and our partners in the alliance to realise the government’s ambitions for children.

We’re proud to join the Child Health Workforce Alliance and stand alongside other leading organisations to champion the health and wellbeing of children across the UK. Health professionals play a vital role in preventing child abuse and neglect. The chronic underfunding of children’s health services is a significant safeguarding concern. Government plans to improve child protection are urgently needed but they will fall flat without enough capacity in the child health workforce.
To achieve the Government’s vision of raising “the healthiest generation of children,” childhoods must be free from abuse and neglect. The upcoming NHS Workforce Plan is an opportunity to revitalise the child health sector. The Health Secretary must empower health professionals to work together with social services and the police to keep children safe.